Bloom
by Say-Suu
Summary: The world is a place of changes, be they huge or miniscule, sudden or prolonged. Mana joins the light music club seeking refuge from these unavoidable changes, but the earth only starts spinning faster... Slightly AU, involves male OC, ch.5 up.
1. Invitation

Full summary:_ Seasons change. Flowers wilt and bloom. To the earth, the difference between a land blanketed in white and a world of sweltering heat is little more than the blink of an eye. Timid Mana Satou joins the light music club seeking refuge from this ever-changing world, but it only starts spinning faster..._

Welcome, and thanks for clicking! It's the first story I'm submitting here, so I'm a little nervous... But for now, let's just read the story and save all the boring talk for the end! Yay!

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**Chapter 1: Invitation**

Mana Satou started into the sky absently. The sunshine was warm, and the rooftop breeze was sweetly-scented. For what might have been the billionth time that day, he questioned his decision to transfer. Or, rather, he questioned acting on his mother's insistence that he transfer. After receiving a promotion halfway through Mana's freshman year, Natsuki had been fervently researching different high schools nearby enough for her son to attend. Sakuragaoka High School, she found, boasted impressive figures for its rates of college acceptance, and with the school opening its doors to male students for the first time since its founding, it seemed the perfect choice.

Although Mana was not particularly fond of the idea of transferring after only his freshman year, he had not been too forceful in voicing his opposition. Natsuki, he understood, treasured him as a living momento of her late husband, Masato. She worked long hours in an environment Mana knew his mother detested so she could afford the best future possible for her dear son. In focusing too closely on the future, however, Natsuki was inclined to losing sight of the present.

Mana's thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice which he soon recognized as his own. He stopped himself, blushing with worry that someone might have overheard. Upon realizing that he was surely the only person that would hear, he gave himself to song, his words finding the melody of their own volition.

Thoughts of his previous school flooded his mind as he sang. The institution had admitted only male students until a few years prior, and while the school had increased its female enrollment, the number of girls in attendance was modest at best, constituting around one fifth of the school's total population. The difference between the two schools was so stark that it was nearly overwhelming; although Sakuragaoka was eager to receive male applicants, Mana's observation during the welcoming ceremony revealed scarcely more than a dozen pairs of pants among a veritable sea of skirts. His former school had used music to promote itself to its prospective female students, and Mana had participated in the small band due to his prowess with the keyboard. Retrospectively, Mana was immensely glad that Aoi Ookai, with whom he had attended middle school, had forced him to join. It was through those performances that Mana became friends with Yuki Suzuki and had come to know the sanctuary that was the stage.

What should have been a brilliant crescendo trailed off into a whisper as the boy realized his only friends and his only sanctuary had been stolen from him. Suddenly Mana found that the pleasant spring weather did not agree with him, and he turned to return to the school building. He froze, finding his path blocked by a certain obstacle of the female persuasion, short sienna hair and wide bronze eyes constituting her immediately recognizable features. Mana could feel the blood leaving his face. It was a bad idea after all, he decided, to sing anywhere but in his own home. To make matters worse, the girl's expression was unreadable. It was impossible to tell whether or not she had been listening. Mana's heart nearly stopped altogether as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Are you a monster?"

The boy stared, unsure if had understood her words properly. His company must have noticed the confusion on his face, for she repeated herself.

"You're a monster, aren't you?"

Mana's head spun with a thousand thoughts before he was finally able to isolate a sensible reply.

"Why are you asking that?" There it was—a good, normal response, even if the question was anything but. The girl's face contorted in thought, her brow furrowing and a contemplative pout appearing on her lips.

"You were singing just now, right?" she asked. Mana nodded slightly in reply. "Well," the girl continued, "it was painful to listen to. Since it's not normal for a song to make someone's body hurt, then it must be some kind of power, right? And anyone who uses power that hurts others is a monster!" She thrust forward an accusatory index finger, as if doing so would validate her point.

Mana was momentarily rendered unable to as much as think. Though it was true he had never actually demonstrated his singing voice in front of anyone, surely it was not so bad as to cause physical pain. Such logical thoughts, however, escaped him, and his mind was filled only with the instinct to hide. Uttering a brief apology in a quiet voice, he pushed past the girl, who stared after him in a mixture of confusion and distaste, and made his way down the stairs. He walked through the halls slowly, almost staggeringly, and somehow found the school's auditorium. The room was dim and occupied by only a few people; it was not quite the ideal refuge, but the presence of a staged served as a small comfort to Mana. He took a seat in one of the back corners, far from any of the room's other inhabitants, and leaned back, fixing his gaze on the high, dark ceiling.

_Maybe she's just crazy_, he wondered absently, desperate to bolster his fleeting confidence. _Listen to a person singing and call them a monster… Who would do that? _Mana inverted his position, folding his arms across his knees and lowering his head. _I'm no better, to decide that she's crazy because she called me a monster_. The word repeated in his mind endlessly, drowning out all other awareness. Mana failed to notice the increasingly loud drone of conversation that slowly filled the auditorium, and he did not perceive the energetic voice, amplified by a microphone, announcing the beginning of a performance. What finally garnered his attention was the sound of a guitar. His head snapped up as the stage exploded in a burst of light and sound.

Mana stared fixated on the five girls at the front of the auditorium. They played enthusiastically, their eyes bright and their smiles wide. They were all genuinely having fun up on that stage, and it showed both in their dispositions and in their music. Dazedly Mana became aware of his own desire to stand there with them and perform at their side, just as he had with Aoi and Yuki. He listened intently to every note, chord, and word that reached him, and his previous worries fled him as he lost himself to their songs. The audience erupted into applause as the concert came to an end, the noise of the cheers surpassed only by the voice of one of the girls as she seized the microphone and shouted into it.

"The light music club is the best, so _join us already_!"

It was an invitation on which Mana was eager to act.

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Aaaand end! Did you make it all the way down here, I wonder? I'm grateful if you did! Now that you're here, I'd like to say a few things about the story in general...

1.) I understand that this whole "put male characters into the K-ON universe even though Sakuragaoka is an all girls school" angle has been done, but I don't want to let that deter me. I'm doing my best not to copy ideas from those stories, but of course you can't expect me to find and read them all just so I can more preparedly avoid similarities, so if similarities DO appear you can rest assured that it wasn't my intent. Anyway, if you're going to judge me for using this idea, that's fine. I won't stop you. But if everyone purposely avoided using similar premises, a lot of great stories would never be written. So I'mma roll with it.  
2.) Yes, Mana is a girl's name. The thing is, before I even conceived this story, the character "Mana" appeared in my dreams on two different occasions, so I thought I'd thank him for giving me such interesting dreams and use him as a character. To be fair, there's actually a reason why he's named Mana even though it's a girl's name. It'll come up eventually, I'm sure.  
3.) Yes, Mana is a major wuss. I'm trying really hard to distinguish his personality from Mio's, though, so they shouldn't end up too similar.  
4.) Yes, Mana can play keyboard. That doesn't mean he'll be overshadowing Mugi, though. The actual instrument he uses will be kept secret for now but should make its appearance soon enough.  
5.) Although I'm doing my best to make everything make sense, one thing I've been unable to resolve is timing. The time frame is such that Yui and friends are second year students and Azusa is a freshman, but somehow Azusa has already been a member for a while even though logically she and Mana entered the school at the same time. I'm really sorry for this one slip, but please just bear with me on this one as starting the story with them as seniors and Azusa as a second year essentially ruins everything I've planned so far. It's a good example of my infamous lack of foresight, let me tell you...  
6.) There are probably a lot of things that don't make sense after this chapter. For once, though, I've managed to plan ahead quite a bit, so everything will come together sooner or later.  
7.) The length is a little... Hrrmmm. In that past I used to force myself to reach at least 3000 words per chapter, and this clocked in at less than half that. However, writing in a way that feels natural to me without worrying about length will help me to push out new chapters faster, so I hope these short chapters aren't too much of a turn-off! (Of course, I'll never do something like... submit a single paragraph. Each chapter will have at least a satisfying amount of content.)  
8.) On the subject of romance, ahhh... I'm not sure at the moment. I might set it up so that there's room for romance later on if I feel so inclined, but it's not really in the plans at the moment.  
9.) The plot is character driven, meaning it focuses more on the development of the characters rather than the development of the situations. I feel this type of plot is suitable for a slice-of-life anime like K-ON, but I'll also be working to include interesting subplots in hopes that it doesn't get too boring.

(That list started at only four points long, and then it grew and grew and grew...) Bearing all that in mind, this is the first time I've written anything since tenth grade as well as the first time I've ever written anything for the K-ON universe. So, feedback and critique are greatly appreciated! Thanks again for reading, and I hope you'll read the next chapter as well!

About that next chapter... Back to writing for me...


	2. Application

Second chapter on the second day, whoohoo it's like a party! I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up so enjoy it while you've got it! That said, thanks so much for continuing to the second chapter! It really means a ton to me as the writer.

Also, just to clarify since I only really said it in passing last chapter, yes, Sakuragaoka WAS an all girl school. However, they made the decision to become a coeducational establishment, opening to male applicants as of Yui and co.'s second year. Enough boring stuff. Story time!  
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Chapter 2: Application**

Mana's footsteps became less sure as he ascended the staircase towards his destination: the light music club's designated clubroom. The words of the girl on the rooftop continued to haunt him, despite the fact that he had no intent of singing anyway. His experience with live performances, however, gave him just enough confidence to put one foot in front of the other. Although his efforts do so were half-hearted, Mana found himself in front of the door separating him from his objective. There were voices on the other side, albeit muffled beyond comprehension, indicating that the club's members were within. The boy placed a hand on the knob, steeled himself with a deep breath, and pushed the door open. Five pairs of eyes found him before his words did, and Mana was left floundering, unsure of what to say. A girl of long, dark hair took the initiative to break the silence.

"Are you here to join the club?" she offered. A glint of hope sparked in her eyes, and suddenly the stares of the other four seemed even more intense and discerning.

"Y-yes, I—"

"_Rejected_!"

It was then that Mana noticed her: a short-haired brunette with wide brown eyes. The same girl from the roof. He hadn't recognized her on stage because of the distance between them. If he had known that girl were a member, he would not have bothered to come. Mana took a submissive step backwards. Perhaps, he feared, he had no place in Sakuragaokoa's light music club after all.

"Yui! What the heck are you saying?" The words came from a girl with slightly blonder hair, a headband pinning back her bangs.

"Did you understand properly? He said he wants to join!" A smaller girl, her raven hair contained in a way that it cascaded from either side of her head.

"Weren't you just saying that you hoped someone would come?" A refined girl with a mane of gold framing her gentle face.

"This isn't like you at all! What's gotten into you?" The girl who first addressed Mana.

"I met him earlier!" the girl who had been addressed as Yui explained, folding her arms across her chest indignantly. "He's a monster! He tried to hurt me!" Silence pervaded for a brief moment, broken suddenly by a simultaneous cry of disbelief as the four girls turned eyes full of suspicion on the boy.

Mana quickly evaluated his position. While he did not like the idea of walking away from the light music club, he would do so for the sake of avoiding conflict. Argument and resistance were not among his areas of expertise. Starting the school year with a reputation for hurting girls, however, was not something that he would accept so easily.

"That's not what—" He reconsidered his words. "I wasn't trying to hurt her. I don't even know _how_ I hurt her!"

"That's a good point," the older of the two black-haired girls levelly remarked. "Yui, how exactly did he hurt you?" Yui took a nearby guitar into her arms and cradled it in her lap.

"I don't know," she admitted in a mumble. "But it would be bad if he did it again and someone else got hurt too!"

"It doesn't look like you're wounded at all, though," the blonde girl observed, raising a delicate hand thoughtfully to her face. "He's the only person that's come by, so can't you forgive him?"

"That's right! Besides, if it turns out that he's trying to hurt someone, we can just kick him out!" the headbanded girl proposed.

Regardless of the arguments against her, Yui still objected, "No! Gitah still doesn't trust him, so neither do I!" She hugged the guitar tightly.

"Senpai, please don't decide such important matters based on the opinions of inanimate objects," the ponytailed girl implored quietly.

"Anyway," the girl sporting the headband placed her hands firmly on her hips, "what it comes down to is that _I'm_ the president of the light music club, and _I _say—"

Mana had quietly watched the exchange thus far but decided now to interrupt, "No. It's not fair to force her with authority." He withdrew a few steps into the hallway, his best smile on his lips. "We won't be able to work together well if she hates me so much anyway, so please just forget I came by at all. Sorry for wasting your time." He turned, ignoring the girls' protests, and left the way he came. The corners of his polite smile pulled into a grimace as he departed. He had hoped that by joining the light music club he could retain at least that much of his former life, perhaps even forget that he had transferred at all, but it was not to be. His friends, his place, his _sanctuary_ were gone, and it seemed fate did not will their return.

_It'll be fine_, he assured himself as he descended the stairs to the first floor. _No one goes through all their classes without ever making a single friend. It'll work out somehow_. His experience in middle school, however, proved this hope false, and his pace slowed to a stop on the landing separating the two flights of stairs. His unconscious thoughts stole his voice.

"I hate it," he mumbled, his tone gaining intensity as he continued. "I hate it here! I never should have agreed to transfer! I want to go back!" He was both surprised and embarrassed to feel the heat of tears on his face and instinctively looked to be sure no one had seen as he brushed them away as nonchalantly as he could manage. When he looked behind himself, however, he noticed the younger of the two dark-haired girls standing on the staircase, holding a sheet of paper daintily in her small hands. Unsure of how to react to her presence, he ceded the first move to her.

"We made Yui-senpai explain it more clearly after you left," she said as she closed the distance between the two. Her demeanor was mild and soothing, as if she were speaking to a frightened child. "Something to do with a song, or… Well, to be honest, we're still not exactly sure what happened, but it's at least clear that she was overreacting. And since Yui-senpai adjusts to people easily, I wouldn't be too worried about it." She offered the paper to Mana, and a passing glance identified it as an application to join the light music club. "I'm really sorry about all of this. We really would like you to join. I know your first impression isn't that great, but won't you at least consider it?"

Mana eyed the application hesitantly before accepting it. The girl smiled in thanks and turned to head back to the clubroom.

"Wait," Mana called. She arced her neck to meet his gaze. "Would it be all right if I asked your name?" Her smile brightened.

"There'll be plenty of time for introductions at the next meeting."

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And second chapter complete! Actually, this chapter should have been posted last night, but in the end I decided to completely rewrite several sections. Mana's inferiority complex is adorable and all, but I had portrayed him as too much of a pansy even more my tastes. Well, rest assured that he'll get better as time goes on.

I have some splainin' to do on the subject of Japanese honorifics. I've been debating whether or not to use them since before I'd even finished planning out Mana's character. I really hate needlessly mixing languages in my writing, but what it comes down to is that the honorifics are very nearly necessary to illustrating the relationships the characters have with one another, such as in the cases of Ricchan vs. Tainaka-san. The addition of a male character to the cast makes these differences in address even more important, so I've grudgingly opted to keep them.

Another problem I've run into is that in avoiding giving a physical description of Mana too early, I've kind of cornered myself. At this point it would be awkward to offer a full description when we're already getting to know his personality, but if I wait too long it will be even more awkward. So, in an effort to get myself out from between this rock and hard place, I'll be looking for opportunities to nonchalantly insert Mana's physical characteristics. Strike two on my lack of foresight.

And for one last note, those of you who may or may not be concerned about the possibility of ManaxAzusa because of that last scene, no worries. It was just kindness on Azusa's part, nothing more. I can imagine neither Azusa nor Mana in a relationship, let alone with each other.

I kind of worry that having so much to clarify at the end bodes poorly for my abilities as a writer, but I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing for now... Those of you reading these words right now, thanks so much for making it all the way to the end of the chapter! As always I'm extremely open to any kind of feedback, so I do hope you'll review. But even more than that, I hope to see you at chapter 3! Yay!


	3. Welcome

Herp derp, new chapter. It came out longer than I was expecting, actually. I'm glad I didn't struggle through partial consciousness to finish it last night. Mmkay, thanks so much for making it to chapter three! Now let's go~!  
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Chapter 3: Welcome**

Four pairs of eyes traced the path of the second hand as it made its merry away around the clock, oblivious to the world. The expensive tea that filled the ornate cups had become lukewarm and unsavory, and an assortment of cakes sat half-eaten on the table. Golden sunlight filtered through the window, although the sun grew crimson and the sunset would give way to night before too long.

"He's not going to come, is he?" Ritsu sighed, leaning back in her chair and pushing at the crumbs on her plate idly.

"I can't imagine he's still in the school at this hour," Mio offered, "let alone planning on coming here."

"There's still a chance he'll come," Tsumugi encouraged in a largely vain attempt to rally her friends. "As long as we're here, there's a chance!"

"A 0.00000001 percent chance is still a chance, huh?" The light music club's president heaved another sigh in exasperation. "In that case, shouldn't we just stay the night? Heck, if we start living here, that means he's _guaranteed_ to show up sooner or later, right?" Her sarcasm, born of fatigue and surrender, gave form to what they all knew was true: The soft-spoken boy from the previous day would not turn in an application.

Tsumugi opted to entertain the wild notion, "That wouldn't be a problem, would it? I can arrange for someone to bring a meal, and I'm sure our parents would—"

"It _is_ a problem," Azusa interrupted irritably. "Applications for new club members were due this afternoon. We might be in trouble as it is since Sawako-sensei already went home."

The already stifling atmosphere became gloomier yet, and the despondent silence was finally broken by Ritsu's cry of frustration. She erupted from her chair and proceeded to the doorway.

"I'm going to go find him!" she declared, drawing open the door with such violence that it slammed against the wall. Mio frowned and stood to attract her friend's attention.

"You know he must have gone home by now!" she reasoned. "Even if he hasn't, what will you do when you find him? Threaten him to fill out the application?"

"If that's what it comes down to! It isn't fair that he'd get our hopes up like that and then not join!"

Azusa called for Ritsu to wait, "It won't do any good if _you_ go." Her seniors turned questioning eyes on her, awaiting clarification. The smallest girl gestured to Yui. "The reason he's not coming is because of the way Yui-senpai reacted to him, right? So it won't mean a thing if anyone but Yui-senpai tries to convince him."

Yui, who would have her friends believe she had passed out from hunger an hour prior, raised her head at mention of her name. An angry pout claimed her features in response to the suggestion, and she turned away from Azusa.

"Why should I do it?" she complained. "It's not like we need a new member anyway."

"Because you made him cry," the girls words, despite her dull tone of voice, cut Yui sharply, "and because you made him hate this school. Are you okay with that? Your selfish actions hurt him more than he hurt you. More than that, what you did was _intentional_."

"She's a bully? No, she's a delinquent? Somehow it's really exciting!" Tsumugi was promptly sent spiraling into her own imagination, but her offhanded remark added immensely to Yui's grief.

"Fine! I'll go look for him!"

Yui's face was set with a discontent frown as she passed Ritsu and headed down the hall, but Azusa's accusation continued to worry her. As a girl who loved making friends and being friends, she considered it highly offensive to be labeled a bully. She reflected on the various ways to best phrase her apology convince the boy to turn in an application, ranging from casually asking for the paper to prostrating herself and begging forgiveness. She was unable to decide on a method before spotting a head of caramel-colored hair, however, as she made her way down the stairs. Their positions were such that the person on the landing had not yet seen her, so she ducked just below the railing to remain undiscovered. She crept down the stairs quietly and peered around the corner.

Sure enough, Yui found that her glimpse had been of the same boy that had visited the light music club the previous day. He held a sheet of paper tightly in his hands, his jaw set and his head turned slightly down, visibly caught up in a moment of intense contemplation. He glanced at his wristwatch and breathed a sigh, then loosely crumpled the paper and proceeded towards the stairs to the first floor. Yui uttered an exclamation, attracting his attention, and rushed out from her hiding place. She seized her target around the waist and very nearly threw him in the opposite direction from the stairs. The boy stumbled and fell to the ground, quickly turning to face his presumed attacker and staring up at her, green eyes wide with fear and confusion.

Yui pointed to the paper that had fallen from his hand and demanded, "You're gonna turn that in, right?" The boy dropped his defense and inclined his head to a side to break eye contact.

"No, I—"

"Well _why not_? Everyone's been waiting for you!" Her company's face fell, and Yui ceased her lecture. It would do no good to shout. Instead, she crouched in front of him, taking hold of the balled up paper and smoothing it out to a readable state. She was surprised to find that it was fully filled out. "I said something mean, didn't I?" she said. "On the rooftop, and in the clubroom too… Azu-nyan said you hate this place now, and that it's my fault."

"That's not—! I didn't mean…" He gave up at the sound of Yui's laughter.

"I'm sorry I said those things," she apologized, her eyes skimming over the contents of the club application curiously. "Anyone who likes music can't be a bad person, right?" She stood and offered a hand to help the boy up. Yui clasped the wrinkled paper in her arms protectively. "I'll turn this in for you!" She pranced up the stairs and turned on her heel upon reaching the second floor. A wide grin spread on her lips.

"See you tomorrow, Mana Satou-kun!"

* * *

I hate honorifics so much. They're just about physically painful to write. But I just can't hear it as Ms. Sawako or Azumeow or... or... I don't even know what you'd do with Ricchan to eliminate the honorific. I'll try to make this the last time I rage about it.

After an exchange with Unstable, I decided I really needed to describe Mana ASAP, but I couldn't find a place to nonchalantly fit it into the first chapter. This chapter's switch in point of view, however, presented the perfect opportunity that I totally wasn't expecting. Strike three on my lack of foresight. Lack of foresight, please do us all a favor and _get off the field now._ Anyway, I also drew a quick portrait of Mana, a link to which you can find at the bottom of my profile thingy, in case you're a visual person like me.

Next chapter probably won't come as quickly since the next event I have fully planned is the summer training camp and that would be a huge time skip. But yeah, thanks so much for reading all the way to the end of chapter, yay! As always, feedback would be super-great as I'm always eager to hear people's impressions of my writing. Mkay, I'm off to plan more thoroughly and maybe draw some more Mana. Thanks again for reading!


	4. Acceptance

Heyyy everyone reading chapter 4 right now! I love you a lot! I love you _so much_ that I'm going to just shut up and let you read. :)  
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Chapter 4: Acceptance**

Although Mana carried his luggage as inconspicuously as possible, he could still feel the curious passing gazes of the strangers around him during his morning commute. He found the attention embarrassing, perhaps even frightening, but somewhere in the back of his thoughts, Mana was thrilled to carry his instrument to school again. He disembarked at the appropriate station, carefully maneuvering through the train's crowd of passengers, and proceeded along his chosen route towards school. It was not long before similarly dressed students began to dapple the path, increasing in frequency as the boy neared his destination.

"Hey!"

Mana tensed at the sudden hand on his shoulder and stared back apprehensively at the dark-haired offender. He recognized that the boy's uniform was in the same design as his own, however, and relaxed his guard.

"Fancy running into you here," the stranger said. "Actually, I don't think we've met. Which is weird in itself, what with the number of guys that go here… We're not exactly the most low-profile students around here, yeah? Name's Kazuki Mitori, class 1-2. How about you?"

"Mana Satou." It was refreshing to be able to have such a casual and normal conversation after all of the stress involving the light music club from the past couple of days. "I'm in class 2-3."

"Oh-ho, so you're a transfer student?" Kazuki observed, to which Mana nodded in assertion. "I guess this means I had ought to be calling you Satou-senpai, then."

"Ah, no, that's all right," Mana hastily objected. "I'm not used to it, so… I mean, I probably wouldn't remember to answer to it…" Kazuki laughed brightly.

"You're kinda weird," he decided, "but you're definitely a cool guy. So, yeah, I've gotten with almost all of the guys attending Sakuragaoka this year, and we've got this plan. We're gonna start up the men's club," he stopped and clarified his intentions in response to Mana's perplexed expression, "I mean we're gonna _call_ _it_ the men's club so we can get it approved, but in reality it'll pretty much be a guy alliance. You know, like a bro-force, essentially." Kazuki's explanation was interrupted the sound of Mana's laughter muffled behind his hand. "W-What? I'm being serious here!"

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just… _bro-force_." Hearing the term again, even from his own mouth, inspired another fit of subdued laughter in the older boy. Kazuki's face fell.

"_Men's club_," he corrected. "Anyway, the name isn't the important part. It'll pretty much be a guy's sanctuary, a place we can go to get away from all the girls. It's gonna be awesome; that's for sure. So, are you in?" Mana waved his hand apologetically.

"Sorry. I already turned in an application for a club…"

Kazuki took a step back and crossed his arms, thinking aloud, "Ah, that's rough… Well, whatever, you can be an honorary member!"

"Is that allowed…?"

"Sure is! 'Cause I'm the president!" Kazuki grinned and ran ahead a short ways. "Anyway, I've gotta meet some people. See you around, Satou!"

"Right! Uh, I'll… see you later, Mitori-san." Mana waved meekly until Kazuki turned around, disappearing into the school gate looming just ahead. It was amazing, he thought, that he could speak so naturally with a perfect stranger. The encounter left his spirits high, and he proceeded to his classroom with a faint smile painted onto his lips.

The confidence that resulted from befriending Kazuki did not last, however. As the days' classes approached their end, Mana became increasingly nervous about his imminent first meeting with the light music club. He had not, after all, ever received any word that his application had been accepted, and he worried that perhaps that wide-eyed girl had deceived him, that maybe she destroyed his application and that he would be ridiculed and driven away if he dared to attend the meeting anyway.

He stood outside of his classroom, fiercely debating his options and their consequences. Before he could reach a decision, however, the black case containing his instrument was snatched from his hands. Full-fledged panic set upon him, but his dread was quelled when he recognized the thief as the president of the light music club.

"Oh, it's actually pretty light," she remarked with a laugh. "You were standing there all spaced out, and I figured you must be thinking of how to carry your heavy instrument up the stairs. I guess that's not it after all, huh?" She seized Mana by the wrist and pulled him in the direction of the staircase and the light music club's room before he had the chance to protest.

"Hey everyone!" the girl cried as she shoved the door open. "Look what I brought!"

Mana, who had once more taken possession of his instrument at some point during his brief trip through the school, looked out from behind the president cautiously, fearing the reaction he might receive. Hostility, however, was not the slightest bit present in the girls' smiles, and he resigned his baseless worries.

"My name is Mana Satou," he said in a quiet voice, advancing a few steps into the room. "I'm a second year student in class 2-3, and—"

"What instrument do you play?" the president interrupted, pawing at the case in his hands.

"It's—"

"How long have you been playing?"

"How old are you?"

"When's your birthday?"

"What about your blood type?"

"Do you prefer milk or lemon tea?"

The two dark-haired girls intervened and put an end to the suffocating interrogation, to Mana's great relief.

"Before you go asking a hundred different questions, how about you tell him your names?" the older of the two reprimanded. "I'm Mio Akiyama, by the way, and I play bass."

"Azusa Nakano. I'm on rhythm guitar. I hope that we can get along, Satou-senpai."

"My name is Tsumugi Kotobuki, and I'm a keyboardist."

"Name's Ritsu Tainaka. Drums for me!"

"I'm Yui Hirasawa, and for me it's lead guitar. Let's have fun playing together!"

Mana nodded at each respectively, carefully associating a face with the name given, then approached the table and placed his black case on top of it. "My instrument," he said, the five girls hovering nearby as he undid the latches, "is this." The cover lifted up, revealing a slender neck and a row of keys on a long, dark blue body finished with a glittery lacquer that yielded the impression of a night sky. "The Roland AX-Synth."

The girls stared in a momentary silence broken by Yui's tearfully distressed exclamation, "Mugi-chan! Gitah cheated on me with your keyboard!" She flung her arms around her friend's waist and sobbed.

"Oh, this is one of those things," Mio realized, unaffected by the guitarist's outburst. "A 'keytar,' right? I'd heard of them, but I thought they were novelty instruments."

"They are regarded that way a bit," Mana admitted, "but they've become pretty popular lately. The AX-Synth is actually the first new model in a while, released because of all the people asking for it."

"It's really cool-looking, too," Ritsu said with a whistle of admiration.

"My mother bought it for me as a birthday present and had it customized. Usually you'll only see them with a plain white finish." Although it was the instrument receiving praise, Mana found himself blushing at the compliment.

Tsumugi, who had been released by a sulking Yui, scrutinized the keytar's appearance thoroughly, wondering aloud, "Does it play similarly to a normal keyboard? It looks like it would be so strange to try and hold…"

"It's not really that hard." Mana carefully extracted the instrument from its container, slipping the strap over his head and positioning the body similarly to how one would hold a guitar. "You can play with one hand like this, or," he shifted the keytar so all of its weight was focused on the strap, "you can let it rest from your shoulders like this and use both hands, like with a standard keyboard."

"Mana-kun, you look great like that!" Yui interjected after a swift recovery from the heartbreak of her guitar's affair. "Play something! Play something!"

Mana's face reddened slightly at the encouragement, but he agreed to the request. He flipped a switch on the back of his instrument and several of the small lights flickered to life. After a moment of fiddling with various knobs and buttons, he began to play. It was a short phrase—a solo intended just for the keytar that was a part of a song he played with his friends at his previous school—but it accentuated the machine's capabilities to the point of definition.

"That's pretty impressive," Azusa declared when the performance came to an end. "Could I ask how long you've been playing?"

"Hmm," Mana hummed, counting off on his fingers silently. "Well, I've only had the AX-Synth since December, but I've been playing the keytar in general for about two years now. I used a regular keyboard for a few years before that, and some of my earliest memories are of my mom teaching me piano."

"Wow… So, ever since you were little, huh?" Yui mused. "Well!" She pointed at Mana suddenly, surprising him. "No matter how good you are now, you'll be sure to get a lot better by playing with us! 'Cause we have tons of fun when we play! It's pos… posi…"

"Positive reinforcement?" Ritsu aided with an apologetic shrug in their new member's direction.

"Yeah! That's it! So, let's make sure to have fun together, Mana-kun!"

Mana conducted a short survey the faces of the light music club's members. Their vivid expressions gave their wordless support to Yui's suggestion, and he found himself smiling as well. Perhaps there really was a place for him here.

"Yeah. I'll be looking forward to it!"

* * *

And now we know how to engage Mana in conversation: ask him about his instrument. Again, for those of you who like a visual aid, I've put a picture of Mana's keytar at the end of my profile, under his portrait.

About that keytar... Yeah, it's kind of a silly instrument. When I was brainstorming Mana's character, I considered a bunch of different instruments. The first choice was guitar, but the light music club really doesn't need a third guitar. Next I thought maybe a violin but decided it was a bit too classy; it didn't fit well with the rest of the club. Flute was next but was rejected almost immediately. Then I hit on keyboard, 'cause I figured it wasn't strange for bands to have multiple synthesizers going, and then I started doing research on keytars out of curiosity and, well... what can I say? I fell in love. Have a look at some videos sometime. It's amazing what can be done with those things.

This chapter should have been done last night, but I kept getting distracted, first by editing a good depiction of the keytar and then by Mameshiba of all things... Admittedly I wasn't feeling so inspired to hurry and push it out since my traffic has been rather pitiable lately and I haven't gotten any reviews even from the few visitors I've received... On that note I'd like to beg for reviews now, lol. Seriously, nothing motivates me more than feedback. Even if English isn't your first language! I can run it through an online translator! Heck, if it's Spanish I can even reply! I'd get down on my knees but you wouldn't be able to see it anyway, so...

Well, thanks for reading to the very end; that makes me super happy too. I hope you enjoyed this longer-than-usual chapter! I hope you enjoyed it enough to review! *shot*


	5. Complication

According to my traffic thingy, I'm overdo for an update. Also according to my traffic thingy, a whole 21 people have read all four chapters! That's actually way more exciting than it probably should be! Okay, blah blah, here's your chapter! It's even longer than last time, too.  
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Chapter 5: Complication**

Mana could recall very few days in his life that he did not practice music. He had not exaggerated when he told the girls of the light music club that his first memories were of learning piano. Aoi, Yuki, and Mana had been incredibly strict with in training regimen; the three boys had spent nearly all of their free time bettering their skills as individuals and their coordination as a group. Memories of those days made the sweetness in Mana's mouth seem almost alien.

"Mugi-chan's cakes are _definitely_ the best," Yui swooned as she cleaned the remaining crumbs from her plate. Mana frowned slightly, and gesture did not go completely unnoticed.

"Since you're finished," Azusa volunteered, "how about we actually practice now?"

Ritsu opened her mouth to object, but Mio cut her off, "And before you try to make some excuse, let me remind you that we didn't get any practice done _at all_ yesterday. If anything we should have been practicing this whole time to make up for it."

"Oh, fine, fine," the president conceded. "Come on, guys, let's—"

"Hello, everyone!" The sudden appearance of the young woman startled Mana, and he withdrew his hand from his keytar's case as if he were to be reprimanded for touching it.

"Saved by Sawa-chan!" Ritsu cheered. Azusa breathed a deep sigh in defeat.

"Just when we finally convinced her…"

"Sorry I didn't come yesterday," the woman said, tossing her light brown hair slightly to position it more neatly on her back. "I had to take care of some things after class ended and didn't have time to stop by and greet our new member." Mana, realizing the statement was in reference to himself, straightened his posture and presented himself.

"Um, my name is Mana Satou," he said, making only marginal eye contact. "It's nice to meet you…"

"Oh, so it's a boy this time." She leaned forward a bit, as if to better examine him. Her expression grew stern, almost angry. "How strange. You certainly don't _look_ important enough to warrant a pack of noisy high school girls showing up on my doorstep at some odd hour of the evening just to turn in an application form that they _could have given me the next morning_."

"Now, now, Sawako-sensei," Tsumugi said soothingly. "Milk or lemon tea?" The speed with which the woman's demeanor changed was almost frightening.

"Milk tea, please!" To Mana's great relief, her smile did not fade when she turned her attention back to him. "My name is Sawako Yamanaka," she explained. "I'm a music teacher at this school and the light music club's adviser. It's a pleasure to meet you, Satou-kun." Mana regarded the teacher with slight apprehension. He found it difficult to accept that this gentle woman was the same who had addressed him so darkly moments earlier.

Sawako sat down at the table and stirred the tea that Tsumugi set before her, asking, "So, what instrument does our new member play?"

"Keytar," responded a chorus of three, though their tones were each distinctly different: Mana's matter-of-fact, Tsumugi's enchanted, and Yui's on the verge of outrage.

"Yui-senpai, for the last time," Azusa assured, "your guitar didn't cheat on you." The girl pouted disbelievingly in response.

"A keytar, huh? That's rather old-school, isn't it?"

"It must be nostalgic for you, right, Sawa-chan?" Ritsu teased, followed by a sharp cry of pain in response to Sawako's wordless retort.

"Keytars," the teacher lectured, "were already out of style by the time I started learning music. They still show up in live performances from time to time as a kind of novelty, but I've never heard of an artist who specializes in one as their instrument of choice because they're so needlessly pretentious."

Mana fidgeted at the use of the word "pretentious," his face flushing at Mio's sudden inquiry, "So why did you pick a keytar over a keyboard, Satou-kun?" He initially attempted to pretend that he had not heard, but it soon became evident that everyone was waiting for his answer.

"I thought it was cooler," he admitted in a low voice, his ears burning in mortification.

"Who would have guessed you were the 'pretentious' type?" Ritsu laughed, slinging a friendly arm around Mana's shoulders to ease the mood.

"Ah, that reminds me," Sawako reached behind herself and rummaged in what the light music club members suspected was a secret compartment she had installed in the chair for the purpose of storing convenient costume pieces. She retrieved a headband with a pair of light brown fabric triangles stitched to the arch. The girls immediately recognized the item, reacting with varying degrees of either excitement or distress. Mana, although unaware of the teacher's intent, became increasingly wary as she approached him. He took a few steps in retreat but found his progress blocked by Tsumugi, Ritsu and Yui flanking him to cut off all means of escape. Mana's already pale complexion whitened as worry escalated to panic.

"Sawako-sensei!" Mio stepped in between the woman and her prey, her expression admonishing. "Please think about others' feelings before you creep towards them with such a threatening face. Or are you fine with scaring away our new member?"

"You make it out like I'm a villain here," Sawako pouted. She dodged around Mio nimbly and slipped the accessory onto Mana's head, decorating his bronze hair with dog ears of a matching color. "Just as I thought," she smiled. "A perfect fit."

"Excellent choice, Sawa-chan!" Ritsu approved with a thumbs-up.

"I had my doubts about the dog motif," Tsumugi said with a dainty hand resting on her cheek, "but it's surprisingly well-suited!"

Yui wrapped her arms around the boy's shoulders, "Isn't that great, Mana-kun? Now you're a member of the light music club, too!"

"Can't we please have a rite of passage that makes a little more sense?" Azusa's request, however, went disregarded.

"Well, since we've come this far," Ritsu mused aloud, "you could try barking, too. You know, to complete the look."

"Nice idea, Ricchan!" Yui approved delightedly. She raised her hands as fists in enthusiasm. "You could do it, right, Mana-kun? Just like a puppy! Woof!" Tsumugi clapped her hands delightedly in agreement, and even Mio and Azusa seemed interested by suggestion.

Mana, who had somehow abided the situation thus far, was on the verge of implosion due to the embarrassment from which he was suffering. He tugged at the ears abashedly, his face burning scarlet and his mind rifling through every potential for escape.

"W— Wo—" Inspiration struck. "Wouldn't this look even better on Akiyama-san?"

A moment of silence pervaded as the room's occupants each turned their gaze on Mio. The girl's cry of disbelief was stifled as she was encircled, Sawako drawing out several different costumes she wished the girl to wear and Ritsu, Yui, and Tsumugi making every move to help her in her endeavors. Mana apologized profusely to Mio for using her as a scapegoat, and the chaos gradually died down. Azusa made a second motion towards practice, and, with Mio's assistance, she was able to get everyone to their instruments.

"Satou-kun, will you be all right?" Azusa asked as she shouldered her guitar. "You don't know any of our songs, right? Should we let you listen for now rather than have you play?" Mana shook his head in defiance.

"It should be fine," he affirmed. "I think I'm able to improvise okay. I didn't have any advance practice the first time I played with my friends, too, and that turned out pretty good."

"Are you a prodigy?" Yui marveled.

"No, nothing like that! It's just that the way I learned to play the keyboard was from improvising with other songs, so…"

"You listened to the performance we gave for the freshmen, right?" Tsumugi said, to which Mana assented. "Let's play that song, then, since you already have a good idea of how it sounds."

Ritsu struck her drumsticks against each other rapidly to establish the rhythm, and Yui joined in with the song's first few notes on her guitar. The band launched into its rehearsal of the song _Fuwa Fuwa Time_, leaving out the vocals for the time being. Mana judged their timing carefully and found a place for himself. The music soured, and everyone sensed it. Mana persevered until the end, however, attempting to right himself throughout but never quite managing to join the melody properly. His sigh of defeat accompanied the song's final chord.

"That was… Uh…" Ritsu struggled to find the right words to reassure their despairing new member.

"It wasn't bad," Mio offered, although the sentiment was half-hearted.

"It was awful," Mana said, Sawako declaring the same judgment simultaneously. Although the boy had realized it and even voiced it himself, hearing the same opinion from their adviser was twice as disheartening. Azusa cleared her throat in a vain effort to relieve the tension.

"Well, let's try it again," she suggested. Ritsu counted off the rhythm once more, and they began to play anew. The problem persisted with a greater intensity than previously; Mana's awareness of his faults only made his keytar more nervous, and this time he was unable to even keep up with the timing correctly. Mio surrendered as they approached the first chorus, exhaling lightly as she moved her hands away from her bass's strings. The others followed her example shortly.

"Something's just… _off_," the dark-haired girl said, her brow furrowed in thought. Mana turned his gaze to the floor.

"It's my fault," he apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm really no good after all…"

"There wasn't actually anything wrong with the way you played." Azusa scrambled to bolster the boy's easily-damaged confidence. "I mean, it was certainly really skillful, and you picked just the right sound to complement us—"

"But it was still bad."

An awkward moment of introspection followed; even though no one was willing to admit it aloud, it was true that the addition of Mana's keytar had completely thrown off their coordination and made a mess of their practice.

"We're just hungry!" Yui decided, raising her guitar as if to dance with it. "It's getting close to dinner time, right? How about we stop for today and try again tomorrow?"

The light music club consented to conclude practice for the day and returned their instruments to their respective cases or standby positions. Mana, whose nerves had not yet relaxed from the unease of his miserable performance, was ready to depart ahead of the others. Sawako noticed this and decided to seize the opportunity.

"Oh, right, I had something to discuss with you girls." The aforementioned girls turned to their teacher in curiosity, and Mana moved to join them as well before Sawako's clarification, "You can go on ahead, Satou-kun. This doesn't apply to you anyway, since you're a new member." While Mana did not quite believe the woman, he was able to discern that she wanted him out of the room and obliged, albeit reluctantly.

"Here's the problem," Sawako explained to the remaining five. "There's no chemistry."

Mio flushed red at her adviser's choice of words, "Wh-What do you mean, 'chemistry?' What are you trying to do this time?"

"Don't get flustered so easily, you dummy! She means that Mana-kun doesn't think of us as friends, so we can't play together well!" Ritsu corrected. Yui hummed disappointedly.

"Why shouldn't he think of us as friends? We ate cake together and stuff!"

Azusa groaned, "Like I said before, please come up with better rites of passage…"

"Any boy would be uncomfortable in the company of such a beauty," Sawako continued, striking a pose as she referred to herself and ignoring the girls' rebuttals, "but there's also the problem of his personality. He's a shy type like Mio, but he also strikes me as distrusting. His attention is split between performing as a band and guarding himself as an individual. If you can convince him to set aside his shell, you'll sound great—like Azusa said, his skill level and technique aren't at fault."

"How are we supposed to do that, though?" Ritsu pondered. "Honestly, I thought we were _already_ friends. We were talking pretty naturally, weren't we?"

"But we were only talking about music and instruments. We don't really know anything about him as a person," Mio realized. Sawako nodded approvingly.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Make Mana-kun talk, no matter what!" Yui jumped excitedly, thrusting her arms into the air and wearing a fiercely determined expression. Azusa reached to calm her.

"Senpai, I'm not sure the 'no matter what' part is a good idea…"

* * *

Hurraaaayy! Actually, to tell the truth, this chapter feels kind of rushed to me. It was originally going to be much longer, according to my plans, but if I followed the draft it would have jumped around over a period of a few months, so I decided to cut it off at this instead.

More importantly, you can find two things in my profile at this very moment! The first is a couple of new illustrations, found at the very bottom. One of them I worked really hard on, so you should have a look if you've got the time! The second is more important, and that's the addition of a poll, found at the very top. It regards the direction this story will take in the future, and I'd like to get a good handle on what the popular opinion is so I can start planning and foreshadowing. It'd mean a lot to me if you'd vote!

As for reviews, I realized that I shouldn't actually beg, lol... I panicked a little when I read in a forum where people were discussing things that make them pass over stories without clicking, and one thing that was mentioned (and agreed with) was that they don't read stories when the chapters outnumber the reviews. But the traffic counter tells me that people ARE reading, sometimes reading all the chapters in one go, too, so I'm not going to worry about reviews too much! Of course if you want to leave a review, that's another story... I'm always, always, always looking for feedback!

That said, thanks for reading the fifth chapter! I'll be working on the sixth shortly, so I hope you'll read that too!


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